Follow BeltwayBlips on Twitter
Abbreviated Pundit Round-Up
Daily Kos —
... during his first week as president. With just a few words and strokes of his pen, the president ended the war on terror, the war on Islam, the war on science and the war on women. [...] Obama's job is just beginning. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will be far harder to end. Still, not bad for a week's work. John Yoo, longtime defender and enabler of torture, says that President Obama is returning us to a pre-9/11 mindset. Karl Rove is concened about President Obama ... very, very, very concerned. ...
The man who created the disastrous Bush White House thinks Obama's White House is too political and disorganized
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth —
This is almost funny. Karl Rove is pontificating about the Obama White House. He seems particularly concerned that four people now share his old office. The guy who directed George Bush's strategies -- the very strategies that have us on the brink of economic depression and entangled in two wars -- that guy is worried about who gets what office in the Obama White House. What's worse, of course, is that the pundits will eat this up. Rove's words will ricochet across cable news today. None of those who quote Rove will wonder why he's got any authority to talk ...
Rove Blasts Obama Use of Office Space
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire —
Karl Rove is upset with President Obama because he's managing the White House differently than his old boss. "It is rumored that as many as 160 people will be in the West Wing under
Mr. Obama. Under President George W. Bush there were about 60. My old,
modest-seized office has been carved into four cubicles. This reduces
the space for ad hoc meetings in personal offices, where so much West
Wing work once took place." Also: "Mr. Obama's tendency to work late into the night will... pose problems."
Morning Skim: The Stimulus Vote . . . and a Holder Deal?
Opinionator —
... . . . is taking place among Democrats”: The most important arguments are among progressives over how much government should do, how it should do it and where it can spend money most effectively. That’s very different from the debate Washington is accustomed to, but it’s a debate worth watching. Wall Street Journal : Karl Rove says that “ Obama’s changes to the management structure of the White House . . . will likely undermine his stated aims and create a more centralized and possibly incoherent policy process.” Aides say Mr. Obama believes the cabinet structure is ...
The irony of change
Yourish.com —
... of the other Arab states, Israel, and the West. Yet this alignment is weak, disorganized, and full of internal conflicts.
This illustrates the mistake Cohen is making. Cohen pretends that the West and the Iranian axis have enough in common that differences can be negotiated away. Prof. Rubin, on the other hand, is arguing that Iran’s interests diverge dramatically from those of the West. There is no managing and no accommodating Tehran.
Furthermore Fouad Ajami writes that this change is ironic.
The irony now is obvious: George ...
Irony is dead
Political Animal —
IRONY IS DEAD.... Have I mentioned lately how entertaining Karl Rove's Wall Street Journal op-eds are? Take today's , for example. On the campaign trail, Barack Obama criticized Washington for being "obsessed with the perpetual campaign." As president he is the first occupant of the Oval Office to give his director of political affairs -- who coordinates the president's involvement with his party and other campaign related activities -- an office in the West Wing. Many Americans may assume that the president's entire staff is in the West Wing. It's not. The West Wing is ...
Clusterfark [Dan Collins]
protein wisdom —
The Dark Lord at WSJ : On the campaign trail, Barack Obama criticized Washington for being “obsessed with the perpetual campaign.” As president he is the first occupant of the Oval Office to give his director of political affairs — who coordinates the president’s involvement with his party and other campaign related activities — an office in the West Wing. Many Americans may assume that the president’s entire staff is in the West Wing. It’s not. The West Wing is actually a very small place, so the vast number of people who work “at the White House” actually have offices across ...
"Obama's White House is too political"
WTF Is It Now?!? —
... Porculant antichrist Karl Rove, responsible for and serving with the most partisan and disastrous dipshits evar, says the new Obama administration is too political and disorganized, the staff aren't sitting where he would expect them to be sitting, and wehhhhhh, even his old office is gone!1! How can they possibly govern effectively?????? ...
Remainders: Ledbetter
Ben Smith's Blog —
... protection from the New York press than Caroline Kennedy.
Lieberman praises Obama's Afghanistan policy.
Obama plans to sign pro-union executive orders tomorrow.
CAP plans for a Democratic pushback, tying anti-stimulus votes to the "Bush-Boehner-Cantor" agenda.
Al-Arabiya interviewed Obama first, courtesy of luck, ideology, and charm.
Predictions begin that Obama will call for a settlement freeze.
Rove grumbles that his former WH office is overcrowded.
Weekly Standard: Dems ...
Change! Part 2
The Next Right —
Karl Rove reports in the WSJ:
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama criticized Washington for being "obsessed with the perpetual campaign." As president he is the first occupant of the Oval Office to give his director of political affairs -- who coordinates the president's involvement with his party and other campaign related activities -- an office in the West Wing. [...] That's a sign of the importance of politics for Team Obama.
@anamariecox on Twitter
I think Obama is ...
Rove's Reasoning is a Crowded Mess
democracyarsenal.org —
A quick point on Karl Rove's largely half-baked and rambling Wall Street Journal piece yesterday. In it, he argues: Aides say Mr. Obama believes the cabinet structure is "outdated." His
appointment of czars to oversee technology, automotive and
environmental ...
